Bruins hope the road makes things right

Friday

Jan 6, 2017 at 7:49 PMJan 6, 2017 at 7:54 PM

After losing the last two games of the season's first half, the Bruins hope a four-game road trip can help them make gains in the standings. The B's recalled goalie Zane McIntyre to back up Tuukka Rask.

Mike Loftus The Patriot Ledger

BOSTON – They know the question is coming, and the fact that it’s still being asked halfway through the season frustrates them.

Facts are facts, though.

The Bruins are 5-7-3 in their past 15 games, the last two of them losses in regulation.

They’ve attained better results this season on the road (11-7-4) than at home (9-10-0).

This might not be the worst time to get out of town.

“It’s good timing, I think,” defenseman Torey Krug said after practice on Friday, the morning after a 4-3 loss to the Oilers at TD Garden in which the B’s thought they were the vastly superior team over 60 minutes. “We obviously have some confidence, going on the road, and we’re going into a couple of buildings where we’ve won before.

“We’re going in to collect some points, maintain our spot and move up in the standings, so it’s a good time, for sure.”

The Bruins left for a four-game, six-night trip tied for second in the Atlantic Division, but facing the potential of falling all the way below the Eastern Conference playoff qualification line before they stepped onto the ice to face division rival Florida on Saturday night (7:05, NESN, WBZ-FM/98.5). The idea of opening the season’s second half the same way they started the first – with a 2-1-0 road trip – is pretty appealing.

“We’re not getting the success at home as we are on the road,” said B’s coach Claude Julien. “We have some teams here that we have to beat, in order to keep moving up in the standings.”

Actually, the weekend portion of the trip pits the B’s against two teams below them in the East, either within their division (Panthers) or in wild-card competition (Hurricanes; 5:05 p.m. Sunday, NESN, WBZ-FM/98.5), so weekend wins wouldn’t necessarily guarantee upward movement.

Most teams in which they’re in closer competition, especially Ottawa, Toronto and Tampa Bay in the Atlantic, have played fewer games than the B’s, who therefore need to stockpile points for the potentially rainy days ahead when they’re idle and all of their competitors are playing.

To that end, the Bruins tried to address a problem area on Friday, making official the anticipated promotion of goalie Zane McIntyre from AHL Providence and demoting underperforming Anton Khudobin (1-5-1, 3.06, .885) to the P-Bruins.

“We haven’t had much success with our backups so far,” Julien said of a three-goalie group with a collective 1-8-1 record, compared to No. 1 Tuukka Rask’s 19-9-3 mark. “We haven’t won enough games, so we need to try something. … This is one step towards trying to find a solution.”

McIntyre went 0-2-0 with a 4.05 goals-against average and .859 saves percentage over three appearances (his first in the NHL) between Oct. 25 and Nov. 24, a stretch Khudobin missed with a hand injury, with Rask also sidelined briefly by a never-disclosed issue. The second-year pro was in position to win, or at least earn points, in high-pressure starts at Madison Square Garden (5-2 loss, Oct. 26) and the Bell Center (3-2 loss, Nov. 8), but he and the B’s faltered late.

McIntyre thinks those experiences, including a month’s worth of NHL practices, will better prepare him for what might be ahead. (Julien said on Friday that he hadn’t decided when McIntyre might play.)

“Being called up for the first time, it’s all flashing lights and maybe blown out of proportion,” said McIntyre, who has literally been unbeatable in the AHL this season – 10-0-0, 1.41, .956.

“That’s going to be the difference this time. You’ve kind of been through it, you know what to expect, you know you can play at this level. Just go out and stop the puck.”

Around the boards: Winger David Backes, who survived an accidental collision with defenseman Adam McQuaid in Friday’s practice, said he’s “very hopeful that I’ll be back in the lineup” on Saturday. He has missed three games with a concussion. … Defenseman John-Michael Liles, who has missed 19 games with a concussion, participated in contact drills on Friday. “We’re probably going to have to make a decision on him any time soon,” Julien said. … Winger Noel Acciari, in and out of the lineup since returning from a lower body in mid-December, was assigned to Providence. … Friday’s shootings at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport forced the Bruins’ flight to be diverted to iami where it landed at 5 p.m.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.